Having conquered Europe, New York's latest soccer superstar looks for a MLS championships with Red Bulls.

Thierry Henry of New York Red Bulls (left) celebrates with teammate Seth Stammler scoring against Tottenham Hotspur on July 22, 2010.

By:Douglas B. McIntyreSpecial to the Star, Published on Tue Aug 10 2010

NEW YORK—A few hours before Thierry Henry’s July 22 debut with the New York Red Bulls, team staffers were standing outside the club’s spanking-new, $200 million (U.S.) Red Bull Arena, anxiously awaiting the French legend’s arrival.

Understandably, they expected Henry to step out of a black Escalade — the preferred transportation mode for world famous, multi-millionaire soccer stars — so their jaws nearly hit the ground when, surrounded by a small entourage of friends and a larger group of scarf-clad fans, he coolly walked toward the front entrance of the building from the nearby subway station.

Others can’t believe Henry, one of the best soccer players of his generation and just 32 years old, has chosen to leave top-level European soccer to ply his trade in fast-rising-but-not-quite-there-yet MLS. On Wednesday night, he makes his home debut against Toronto FC.

“Thierry’s still a world-class player,” says close friend, two-time NBA MVP and current Vancouver Whitecaps co-owner Steve Nash. “He’s still capable of playing at the highest level of this game, and it’s amazing that he’s willing to come over here at this stage of his career, to be honest.”

Of course, Henry isn’t the first futbol deity to cross the pond recently. But while David Beckham’s mega-hyped 2007 move was as much about glitz, glamour and selling hundreds of thousands of L.A. Galaxy jerseys as it was about winning matches, Henry’s arrival (and via public transportation that day in Harrison, N.J.) signals he’s a much different type of star.

Two things brought Henry to New York after stops in Monaco, Turin, London and Barcelona. First, he has enjoyed a long-term love affair with the city. He’s as much a fan of the relative anonymity it affords him as he is of sneakers, basketball and old-school rap music.

“I can't tell you what a pleasure it is for me to leave my room and be able to have a coffee in the hotel lobby,” Henry, one of the planet’s most recognized athletes, told the Wall Street Journal last month.

The other reason is that he simply has nothing else to achieve in Europe. After winning a World Cup and European Championship with Les Bleus, league titles in France, England and Spain and Champions League and Club World Cup crowns with FC Barcelona last year, Henry will spend the remainder of his illustrious career trying to bring MLS Cup to New York’s long suffering supporters. Toronto will host the final on Nov. 21st.

Fans on both sides of the border are excited he’s here. At least one Montreal-based journalist made the 16-hour round trip drive for his introductory press conference, hoping to ask the star a question or two en français.

Still, the buzz might have been louder a year ago. Henry is coming off the most difficult 12 months of his career, a stretch that saw him vilified for a handball that put France into the World Cup at Ireland’s expense, suffer though Les Bleus embarrassing performance in South Africa and lose his starting job with Barca.

That said, it took him all of 24 minutes to notch his first goal in a Red Bulls uniform, the former Arsenal man scoring against Tottenham, the Gunners’ biggest rival, in an exhibition. And while he hasn’t found the net in two league matches (including Sunday’s scoreless tie in Chicago), Toronto FC fans should worry. Henry is just approaching full fitness following a post-World Cup break and has a knack of rising to the big occasion. Wednesday’s match against TFC (7:30 p.m., GolTV) marks his home debut in a game that counts in the standings.

TFC has other reasons to fear the hosts, too. With all due respect to Julian de Guzman and Miguel Angel Ferrer Martinez (aka Mista), New York’s haul of salary cap-exempt “designated” players is on a different level than that of the visitors. Besides Henry, there’s striker Juan Pablo Angel, second in MLS in goals, and Mexican World Cup captain Rafael Marquez. Marquez, Henry’s former teammate in Spain, became the club’s third high-priced star last week, but will miss Wednesday’s game to play for his country against world champion Spain in Mexico City.

Henry, though, is absolutely the headliner.

“He could be the best player this league has ever had,” says Angel, who could arguably make a claim for that title himself.

Despite Henry’s lofty pedigree, he’s assimilated quickly, fitting in easily with teammates making 100 times less than his annual salary of roughly $6 million per season. He’s adapted on the field, too; Henry’s chemistry with Macoumba Kandji, a 25-year old who idolized his new mentor while growing in Senegal, has raised the youngster’s game to the point that English Premier League clubs are reportedly interested in his servives.

Torontonians can see Titi and Co. in the flesh when New York visits BMO Field on Aug. 21. But if you can’t make the game, don’t fret. You just might catch Henry taking the streetcar back to the team hotel.

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